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The Role of Government: The Role of Government:
Critical Success factors in Establishing and Critical Success factors in Establishing and
Maintaining School Milk Schemes Maintaining School Milk Schemes
Dr. Nathan Twinamasiko
Executive Director,
Dairy Development Authority
Kampala, Uganda
4th International School Milk Conference
6-8th November 2006
Spier Estate, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Overview of Uganda
� Uganda is a landlocked country with
conducive weather
� Population of Uganda is ~ 27.6 million (2005)
� A large percentage of Uganda’s population is
mostly youth
Enrolment in school (2004) is a
follows:
� Primary (7.2 million)
� Secondary (728,393)
� Tertiary (83,024)
90%
9%
1%
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
Overview of Uganda� It is estimated that 1.2 billion litres of milk are
produced annually
� Over 80% of this production is from indigenous cattle
� 840 million litres (70%) are marketed and 360 million litres (30%) are consumed by the producing households
� Milk in Uganda is marketed through two main channels - formal (10%) and informal channels (90%)
Ankole (long horned cattle)
Introduction on School Milk
� A critical link has been shown between learning
and school children’s health and nutrition.
� Hunger and malnutrition are amongst the major
explanatory factors contributing to poor
performance of children
� The situation is further compromised if a country
lacks an approved national school feeding policy
and guidelines
Introduction cont’d� Experience shows that providing meals at school
can help solve hunger and improve learning, enrolment and attendance
� A School feeding program (which integrates milk preferably) is therefore highly recommended since milk is rich in many nutrients
� The positive impacts of school feeding program also serve as a means of introducing healthy eating habits and basic hygiene practices.
Introduction cont’d
� If milk is given to school children, it will ensure that habits established in early years persist throughout life (milk drinking culture)
� Although a school feeding program/school milk program may be expensive, it has national benefits since it will ensure that the country has a healthy young generation
� However, certain critical factors are required for the success of school feeding programs/school milk programs
Break time with milk!
The role of Government – critical success
factors 1. Policy on school feeding/Guidelines on what to
feed
a) Policy
� For successful school feeding initiatives a country should put in place a policy for school health
including policy on school feeding
� Such policies can be very instrumental in encouraging the provision of meals/milk to school
children
The role of Government – critical
success factorsb) Guidelines on what to feed
� Schools need to be encouraged to provide a balanced diet . This can be achieved when Government develops guidelines on what should be fed to the children
� This necessitates that the human resource with technical information (nutritionists or dieticians) be available at district or regional level to advise schools on menus developed by the schools
The role of Government – critical
success factorsc) Implementation plan
� The Government should not only think about putting in place a policy but also its implementation plan with clear milestones as well as issues of sustainability
� The implementation mechanism should be well thought out. Thus, a lot of planning is required to ensure a proper take off of the program
� Details of infrastructure and resources needed and impact on the environment should also be well worked out.
The role of Government – critical
success factors2. Public support
� Providing national coverage for school
feeding/school milk programs may be out of reach for most governments including Uganda.
� Targeting public support to the most underserved, food insecure areas with relative low rates of school
attendance could be the option especially where public financing is used.
The role of Government – critical
success factorsPublic support
� The Government can sensitize the public to
buy in so that if they are requested to
contribute, they will readily do so.
� The media can be used to sensitize the
population on nutritional value of milk and
demystify the idea that the cost of milk is too
high
The role of Government – critical
success factors 3. Multi-sectoral approach
� This approach is required for a country planning to venture into a school feeding initiative
� For success, there is need to involve stakeholders in agriculture, health, education, NGOs, International bodies e.g. WFP, UNICEF, Trade and Industry and the private sector
Government role- critical success
factors� 4. Financing
� If publicly financed, the Government should
ensure that funds for such programs is
regular to prevent interruption in the program
The role of Government – critical
success factors5. Sustainability
� Getting the community involved from the
beginning and giving them ownership of
school feeding greatly increases the chances
of the programmes success and sustainability
The role of Government- critical
success factors6. Monitoring mechanism
� A proper monitoring system should be put in
place to ensure that all the children benefit
� Schools be monitored to ensure that they are
following the laid down school feeding
guidelines
Success stories in Uganda
� Some farmer co-operatives with excess milk and
no market have managed to successfully approach
schools and supply milk directly to them
� Processing companies have approached schools
through head teachers and school management
and currently supply milk to schools
� A number of schools in urban areas are on this
arrangement
Success stories in Uganda
� Dairy Development Authority and private sector agencies have been
instrumental in promoting milk
consumption in schools
� The milk drinking culture is slowly
picking up in Uganda
Primary school children drinking milk
at break time
Conclusion
� Every country interested in dairy development and improved nutrition of its population should promote the consumption of milk in schools. This is the future of the dairy industry.
“The Children of Today are the Adults of Tomorrow. Today milk and dairy
products are bought for these children and tomorrow they will be the
buyers”
Thank you!